Just About Everything

                                                       Sunset at Phnom Bakheng One of the oldest temples in Angkor, Phnom Bakheng temple is on a hill and involves a little bit of climb to reach there.  Built in the 9th century the Phnom Bakheng temple is currently not in a great condition, parts are being restored and you can make out how nice it must have been in it's prime.  They were allowing only a certain number of people on top of the temple due to it's fragile  condition.   I did not want to miss this temple since it seems extremely popular for  sunset views.  On the way up I could catch a glimpse of the Angkor wat temple complex amidst the jungles. T he temple is unique in it's own way, and because it is at an elevation, the aerial overall view was nice. This was the last temple on our agenda on day ...

Reclining Buddha, Ajanta cave 26 Ajanta, a UNESCO world heritage site in Aurangabad district, India, depicts the finest Indian wall paintings and architecture (quite a bit of it is still surviving). There are a total of 30 rock-cut caves dating back to the 2nd century BC, many are unfinished and quite a few have deteriorated a lot, but there are some better preserved caves where we can get a glimpse of ancient Indian art and architecture. These caves had been long forgotten until a British officer stumbled upon one of the caves in 1819. I will start my Ajanta diary by posting pictures and a short video clipping of Cave 26; this cave has a reclining Buddha, and some very nice sculptures and interesting paintings. Ajanta cave 26 Ceiling of cave 26 Painting on the wall of cave 26

Cave temple 21, Ellora, India This is my last post on Ellora cave temples and paintings ...I hope I could bring a little bit of Ellora to you through my posts...this is one place you must visit, especially if art and sculptures interest you. Excavated in the 7th Century A.D, Cave temple 21 is another beautiful cave temple dedicated to Shiva.  I loved the sculptures in this cave. There is a sculpture of Ravana shaking Kailasa, and this seems to be one of the most popular themes in Ellora, we saw similar sculptures in a couple of other cave temples in Ellora.   Ravana shaking Kailasa Carvings on a pillar

I am sharing two very short videos from the Vaikuntha Perumal temple in Kanchipuram, India . The videos are courtesy Soma Jha. The first one is a very brief video just to give you a general idea about the interiors of the temple and the 2 nd one is a clipping of quite a unique musical instrument in the temple. It combines together the sounds of drums and bells quite well.

Hazararama temple, Hampi, Karnataka One of my personal favourites, this temple was dedicated to Vishnu in the form of Rama. The name Hazara-Rama has been derived from the thousands of Rams carved on the temple walls. I absolutely love the carvings on the walls, especially the carvings on the pillars inside the temple. Carvings on the walls Hazara-Rama Temple, Hampi Carvings on the walls of Hazara-Rama temple, Hampi Hazara-Rama temple, Hampi Pillars with exquisite carvings inside the temple Hazara-Rama temple, Hampi, Karnataka

I am sharing the video that I captured at the Vitthala temple complex at Hampi, Karnataka, India. It is really quite an amateurish video but kind of gives you an idea about the temple comlplex. And again this does not do justice to the amazing beauty of this temple.